Comedy review: Eddie Izzard, Glasgow

Even without an acting career, with his commitment to marathon running and performing in different languages, it’s a genuine wonder that Eddie Izzard has put together such a pleasurable two hours of stand-up.

Eddie Izzard. Picture: Toby Williams

Eddie Izzard - Secc, Glasgow

* * *

Force Majeure isn’t classic Izzard and one has to forgive a fair numbers of routines dissipating into the ether rather than finishing decisively on a punchline. Plus ça change, enjoyment derives from the rambling journey rather than the destination. Still, it does recall his finest hours and is a considerable improvement on his nondescript last show Stripped.

He’s always demonstrated a keen interest in myth, ancient history and the anthropomorphising of animals. Here, he conjures the spirit of Zeus (played by Liam Neeson) and Marc Anthony (played by a chicken). But he also harks back to his own mythology, reviving the testy family relationship between God and Jesus of bygone shows, and directly alluding to his renowned Darth Vader in the Death Star canteen routine.

Such career callbacks feel like a further attempt to connect and foster communal feeling with his audience, sharing his passion for languages that have evolved beyond the “invasionary”, his admiration for the fitness of wild animals and his loathing of fascism. Several reviews of this tour have criticised his many jibes at right-wing opinion. But tonight there was only the occasional jab, albeit enough to convince you of his Europhile and humanist convictions, inevitably at the expense of non-existent gods and Margaret Thatcher.